I was taking a cue from Homer and doing some hard chilling on the couch yesterday, doing important things like catching up on the latest Simpsons episode…and all of a sudden…my heart skips a beat. I pause and rewind.
Could it be?? The couch gag…..a BRAND NEW museum-themed couch gag? A gag that combines The Simpsons and art history which as everyone knows are my two favorite things!!!?? Like a sign sent down from God or Matt Groening himself! Who am I to ignore such an omen?
And thus, I most humbly present to you: the first Sartle Simpsons blog of 2015!
So here’s the gag: The Simpson clan is sitting on one of those hard, uncomfortable benches in an art museum (which I’m fairly sure are made that way to discourage naps.) The fam peruses a fine array of art spoofs…of themselves! To my delight, every member is perfectly paired with a famous artist.
First, you got Maggie as a rude Roy Lichtenstein comic. (Roy was a Pop artist and homies with Andy Warhol):
Mags never (OK, rarely) actually speaks. Like those comic book heroines, she’s all cartoon.
As far as I know (and I know from extensive Googling) this is the first time Roy Lichtenstein has been referenced in an episode proper. Though there was a great Lichtenstein revamp starring Lisa released in a pack of trading cards in 2000:
And an honorable mention to this fan art, mostly because of the quote:
Next up is a spoof on those trippy M.C. Escher tessellations…with Lisas making up the geometric pattern!
Excuse me for a moment while I get this printed on everything I own. Escher is the ultimate nerd’s artist, so this pairing fits like…um…an M.C. Escher tessellation!
We know he’s one of Matt Groening’s Sartle favs because we’ve seen him before. In The Simpsons Movie:
And, for the hardcore fans, one of his impossible objects at a yard sale:
Twelve bucks, what a steal! His work’s been parodied in a couple other episodes, AND an episode of Futurama….But I can’t watch TV all day for you! My therapist says I need to spend more time outside!
And now, who better to portray Bart than bad boy Jackson Pollock?
That troubled but lovable child never was afraid to get messy.
Pollock’s a couch gag repeat, too. But after 26 seasons, you’re bound to cycle back to some things.
Matriarch Marge is up next, fittingly painted in the style of Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period, to match her hair of course:
You can almost hear her grumble…
The inspiration? Perhaps the grimace in Portrait of Suzanne Bloch
Talk about bad hair.
In the next one, Marge gets to let loose and have some fun! Albeit perhaps in Homer’s fantasy where he moonlights as Bacchus, the Greek god of Duff beer:
Cleavage and encouraging time with Moe? Definitely a fantasy.
This one’s a spoof on Bacchus by Peter Paul Rubens:
Santa’s Little Helper makes a much more practical footstool than that tiger.
The camera pans back to the family who all look bored. Homer grabs the remote, presses a button and all the canvases go static…before turning back to sweet, sweet TV.
Lucky for us, there’s a site like Sartle where TV and art appreciation are not mutually exclusive!
So stay tuned!
Need More? The Simpsons Did It: Part 1
Sr. Editor